Stories for June 7th 2013

Consumer prices edged up 0.3% in Brazil last month, fuelled by higher medicine, clothing and housing prices, with 12-month inflation at 6.5%, the state statistics agency said on Friday. The May increase, in line with market analysts' forecasts, was lower than the 0.5% recorded in April and the lowest since June 2012.

Amnesty International said that British authorities in their meetings with visiting Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos should not allow a ‘focus on commercial diplomacy to come at the cost of raising human rights. President Santos is basically on a business and trade visit to the UK, but is also expected to address issues of ‘security and intelligence”.

President Juan Manuel Santos revealed on Friday in London that Colombia has been cooperating with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, “since a long time”. Last June first the Colombian Executive announced that the Ministry of Defence was going to sign an agreement with NATO “to begin the process of becoming closer to NATO”.

Paraguay will host the next Organization of American States, OAS, General Assembly scheduled for June 3 to 5 of 2014 in Asuncion. The decision by acclamation was taken on Thursday at the end of this year’s event in Guatemala.

Leaving behind an atmosphere of mistrust, China and Mexico agreed this week to upgrade bilateral ties to comprehensive strategic partnership, and thus opening broad prospects for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

European authorities are to propose bringing control of the inter-bank lending rate, Libor, under the supervision of a Paris-based regulator. The draft regulation proposes moving oversight of the scandal-hit benchmark from London to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

US spy chief James Clapper has admitted the government collects communications from internet firms, but says the policy only targets non-US persons. The director of national intelligence was responding to articles about an alleged secret programme, Prism.

Latinamerican countries expressed on Thursday their full support for Argentina’s sovereignty claim over the Falklands/Malvinas, during the 43 annual assembly of the Organization of American States taking place in Guatemala. Only Canada was against the OAS final declaration while the United States did not take position on the matter.

Brazil’s credit rating outlook was cut to negative by Standard & Poor’s saying sluggish economic growth and an expansionary fiscal policy could lead to higher government debt levels. Reacting to the announcement a spokesperson from the Finance ministry said “there is no change in economic policy and the environment is conducive to investment”.

Uruguay announced on Thursday new measures to discourage short term speculative capital inflows that have appreciated the Peso, eroded the country’s international competitiveness, made imports cheaper than domestic production and threaten an already stubborn inflation.